Sand Pond Recreation Area

This is a Florida Forest-maintained campground, not a Florida State Park. A Forest Service employee here told me that the Forest Service is primarily concerned with fire issues, such as controlled burns and fires, and that campgrounds come second. That may or may not be true, but look how many folks have commented on the fact that this isn't the best kept campground. There is no paid staff here - only the camp host of the moment, and the place isn't as spotless as the usual Florida State Park campground. Of course, the camp host could change tomorrow or wake up inspired and move this whole rating up to a five, because the campground is gorgeous. Only 20 sites, but many are on the water. It's not crowded. The sites are well spaced. I have no idea what the other commentator means by highway noise. There are 256 people living in the nearest town. The only thing I can hear are frogs. It's easy to get here on a short, packed-dirt road. The ATT signal is great. The trails are abundant and wonderful, and north Florida has pine trees that are so beautiful. There is a second pond a five minute walk from the sites which is loaded with cypress trees, and a wonderful long, newly refurbished elevated walkway takes you right through the pond. This is such an old forest that it really shows off how beautiful native Florida was and, in areas like this, still is. If you like primitive camping, ask for site one!

Small campground at Pine Log State Forest.

Pleasant and beautiful stayed. We enjoyed relaxing and hiking.
Weather perfect, not so hot with a nice breeze keeping the bugs out.
We camped here Feb 18 to Feb 20 in a class B MH

Sites are very well laid out with good views of the pond. Cement pads along with picnic tables, and big grassy areas. Electric and water hook-ups. Dump station on site.
Bathrooms and showers with hot water...they are old but clean.
There are 2 hiking loops (2mi and 5.5mi) very well marked.

The only negative is the road traffic noise (not horrible and lays down at night). The campground is close to State Rd 79.

(The $15 price reflects the senior discount; regular price is $25)

The RV sites have level concrete pads, and electricity and water. Each has a picnic table and a bench overlooking the central pond. While the sites don’t have a lot of visual privacy, they’re far enough apart that you aren’t on top of each other. There was only one other camper while we were here, though we saw a fair number of hikers passing. The nearby restrooms are fairly old, but mostly clean; I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen a lot worse.

The place is full of hiking/biking trails, enough to keep even the dog happy. We’re close to Panama City Beach, and, because of the many hikers here, the Ebro post office is very helpful with general delivery packages. You can just barely hear the sound of traffic on the relatively nearby highway, but it's not loud enough to be disturbing.

Despite the water, we didn’t experience any issues with mosquitoes, the bane of our existence. There was enough of a breeze that, if there are any around, they’re kept at bay.

Verizon and AT&T service were both good enough to stream movies.

We camped here over Easter Weekend in 2017. Despite the holiday weekend the 20-site campground was never full and there were no loud rowdy campers!

18 of the sites are reservable and 2 are walk-up. There is also a group site. All 20 sites have concrete pads (most looked level), water & power, a fire pit and a grill. The first 14 sites or so are lakefront sites. Several will accommodate larger rigs and many are pull-thru. Access from the highway is via a hard-packed dirt road but it was very smooth at the time of our visit. There is self check-in via an Iron Ranger and payment may be via check or cash.

We loved the view of the little lake and the fact that most of the sites are nicely spaced for elbow room. The day use area was crowded on Easter Sunday but is far enough away from our site that we hardly heard a peep.

Bathrooms are located in the day use area, so if you're tent camping you may want to choose a low-numbered site for easier access. There's one handicapped bathroom with shower, and a non-handicapped shower as well (which was being re-tiled at the time of our visit). The bathrooms weren't the cleanest or prettiest that I've seen but were serviceable. The remainder of the park is immaculate.

The Pine Log National Forest is cris-crossed with hiking and biking trails that you could spend days exploring. There are also a few sandy roads for off-road licensed vehicle access (no ATVs allowed) but aside from a few deeper sandy spots and some shallow creek crossings there's nothing exciting about them. Pretty pinewoods, but not exciting.

The west end of Panama City Beach is an easy 20-minute drive.

All in all we were very pleasantly surprised by this pretty little campground and were thrilled at how peaceful it was over a holiday weekend. We would definitely stay here again!